Multi-Store Owner Explains How Commitment to Early Childhood Literacy Has Boosted Customer Loyalty
A laundromat isn’t the easiest type of business in which to create that “warm, fuzzy feeling” for customers.
Just ask Daryl Johnson who owns 10 (soon to be 11) Giant Wash laundromats in Iowa and Minnesota.
“As a general rule, customers come in kind of irritated,” he laughed. “People don’t like doing their laundry, so the vast majority of our customers are somewhat annoyed before they ever set foot in my store.”
Johnson added that, historically, he and his staff subscribed to the philosophy of doing whatever they could simply to not irk those customers any more than they already were.
“For me, a win is if a customer is not more irritated then when he or she first came in,” he explained.
However, lately, some of Johnson’s customers are leaving his laundromats not only with much cleaner clothes, but also much improved demeanors.
The reason for this attitude adjustment are the LaundryCares’ Family Read, Play & Learn Centers that Johnson has installed at four of his locations.
These literacy-focused spaces feature top-quality seating, tables and bookshelves designed especially for kids, along with an array of the leading children’s books and other early childhood learning materials.
“An RPL space has a tendency to change that attitude of the customers,” Johnson marveled. “They notice it immediately, and the response from them is overwhelmingly, aggressively positive. And they have a much more positive outlook toward me as an operator and toward my store.”
At a few of the Giant Wash locations, Johnson doubled down on his literacy offerings by partnering with the local libraries in those areas and adding reading programs to the early learning mix.
“When parents with children come into the laundry, virtually every kid makes a beeline to that reading area,” he noted.
It was during a store opening in June 2019 that Johnson knew the RPL spaces would be a game-changer for his laundry business.
“We had just completed a full gut job and remodel of a laundromat, and we had installed a Family Read, Play & Learn Center at this particular location,” he said. “Of course, my wife, Lisa, and I were there when the first customers came into the store. It was a mom with three kids – and those kids immediately headed to that RPL space. Within 10 minutes, they were reading and ‘playing school,’ with the oldest daughter as the ‘teacher.’ They even said the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag in the corner of that area. It was pretty cool to see.”
The multi-store owner added he feels his current customers at the laundries that feature Family Read, Play & Learn Centers have grown even more loyal to his business than ever before. He believes this is due to the true commitment he’s made to literacy and to the families within the communities he serves. Early childhood learning is not just an afterthought at Giant Wash.
“Of course, anytime you’re doing something positively focused on kids, that’s going to generate a strong warm, fuzzy feeling from the community toward your business,” he explained. “I don’t know that it’s tangible or precisely measurable, but I certainly know that the customers enjoy it – and there’s no doubt it generates loyalty.”
In addition, Johnson noted that, since adding the RPL spaces, he has experienced a decrease in some of the “less-than-desirable activity” that can occur in and around some laundromats.
“We find less craziness going on in the stores,” he said. “It certainly changes the community’s view of the laundromat. How it does it, I don’t know. I’m not a psychologist. Maybe it’s just simply being noticed that we’re trying to do something positive within those neighborhoods. I’m not sure exactly what’s going on, but I’m sure it’s happening.”
Johnson plans to add the LaundryCares literacy spaces to all of his laundromats.
“As soon as we’re done with our remodeling projects, our intent is to install RPL kits in every store,” he explained.
He added that he would strongly recommend RPL spaces to nearly every laundromat owner – with a few exceptions.
“If you’re my competitor, don’t do it,” Johnson joked. “I don’t want any of my competitors to have them, because I want to be the only one with them in my markets.
“Seriously, these RPL kits have been a slam dunk for us. They definitely make an impact. Again, it’s hard to quantify. You can’t put a specific dollar figure to it, but I know I receive much greater loyalty from my customers.
“What’s that worth to you? I don’t know, but probably quite a bit.”
[For more information about the LaundryCares Foundation, its programs for store owners and how to get involved, contact Dan Naumann at: [email protected]; or visit the organization’s website at: www.laundrycares.org.]
